Gervinho put Arsenal ahead early on before Ayegbeni Yakubu levelled after 25 minutes.

Mikel Arteta fired Arsenal back ahead nine minutes later but an own goal by Alex Song levelled the scores again early in the second half, before Blackburn's Steven Nzonzi drove the ball across goal from a corner and Yakubu, who looked to be offside, turned it home from close range.

Arsenal's defensive woes - in the wake of their 8-2 defeat to Manchester United - continued when an own goal by Laurent Koscielny in the 68th minute gave Rovers a two-goal cushion.

A late header by Marouane Chamakh gave Arsenal hope in the final minutes but some desperate defending by Blackburn saw them close out the win to ease pressure on boss Steve Kean but provide further bad news for Arsene Wenger.

Elsewhere, QPR took a 2-0 lead at half-time over Wolves thanks to early goals from Joey Barton and Alejandro Faurlin at Molineux.

Barton's shot from Shaun Wright-Phillips' scuffed cross did enough to beat Wayne Hennessey before Faurlin directed an effort past the goalkeeper from the edge of the area.

Swansea led West Brom 2-0 at half-time, Scott Sinclair scoring the Swans' first Premier League goal from the penalty spot after Paul Scharner brought down Joe Allen.

Sinclair then set up Leroy Lita, who doubled Swansea's advantage by heading home from Sinclair's corner.

Gabriel Agbonlahor put Aston Villa 1-0 up against Newcastle after holding off Fabricio Coloccini and sweeping the ball into the net.

Everton and Wigan were locked at 1-1 at half-time. Phil Jagielka's header cancelled out Franco di Santo's goal, one minute after the Argentinian had opened the scoring for the visitors to Goodison Park.

Norwich took a 2-0 lead into the break at Bolton thanks to an Anthony Pilkington goal in the 37th minute and a Bradley Johnson strike three minutes before half-time.

Bolton were reduced to 10 men just before the half-time whistle when Ivan Klasnic was sent off for an apparent head-butt on Marc Tierney.